Britain and Ireland in the mid-5th century, between the Roman departure and the founding of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

  Mainly Goidelic areas.

  Mainly Pictish areas.

  Mainly Brythonic areas.

Gaelic language and culture would eventually become dominant in the Pictish area and far northern Brythonic area.

The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx.^[1] Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man.

The Goidelic languages are one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other being Brythonic.

Terminology[link]

The modern English term Gael derives ultimately from the Old Irish (Ancient Gaelic) word Goídel, which was spelled in various ways by Gaelic writers at different times. The modern Gaelic spellings are Gael (Irish) and Gàidheal (Scottish Gaelic).

Early Greek and Roman authors called the Irish Ιουερνοι and Iverni, respectively, both derived from the Proto-Irish ethnic name *Iwerni ("people of *Iweriū"). Later Greek and Latin variants of this name included Ίερνοι, Hierni, and Hiberni.^[2]

Scoti or Scotti was another generic Latin name for the Irish that came into use by the 4th century.^[3][4] It is not believed that any Gaelic groups called themselves Scot(t)i in ancient times, except when referring to themselves in Latin.^[3] It is also conjectured that the Latin term may mean "raider/pirate" as it is widely accepted that raiders from Ireland were attacking Britain's west coast during and following the Roman occupation.

Goidel is thought to have been borrowed some time during the 7th century from the (not directly attested) Primitive Welsh form which became Old Welsh Guoidel, i. e., "Irishman" (which is attested as a male personal name in the Book of Llandaff), and may ultimately be derived from an Proto-Indo-European *weidh-(e)l-o-, perhaps meaning "forest people," partially cognate with the Old Irish ethnic name Féni (from Proto-Indo-European *weidh-n-jo-, "forest people," later becoming simply "warriors" in Proto-Irish).^[5][6]

History of use[link]

Since the disappearance of Gaelic as a community language in the south and east of Scotland in the late medieval period, and the popularity of the terms 'highland Scot' and 'lowland Scot', the term Gàidheal has been used in Gaelic language conversation not merely to denote Gaelic identity but also as an equivalent for the single English word 'highlander'.

Up until the late 15th century, the Gaelic language in Scotland was generally named Scottish, both in its Latin form and in Early Scots. For example, the usage in The Flyting of Dumbar and Kennedie at the start of the 16th century is Erse (= Irish) and Inglis (= English). After this time, the Gaelic language generally became called Erse (Irish) and the lowland tongue Scots (= Scottish).

Documentary evidence shows other subsequent alterations in general terminology, such as the appearance of the Latin term "Scotos Hibernicos" in 1521 and its English equivalent, "Scottish-Irish," by the English diplomat Ralph Sadler in 1558 to refer to Scottish Gaels.^[7]

In earliest surviving writings in the Lowland Scots tongue (which had hitherto been called Inglis), a form of the term Gaidheal appears to discriminate between Gaels from the Scottish Highlands and Gaels from Ireland. In 1596, it appears in James Dalrymple's translation from Latin into Lowland Scots of the Historie and Chronicles of Scotland, 1436–1565 as the main element within the word Gaelic, referring to the language in Scotland, rather than in Ireland.

Current definitions[link]

• Gaels – the ethno-linguistic group.
• Gaelic – of or relating to the Gaels.
• Goidels – an alternative term sometimes used to describe the Gaels in antiquarian contexts
• Goidelic – of or relating to the Gaels, particularly their language, in antiquarian contexts

Gaelic culture and society[link]

This section requires expansion.

History[link]

Mythological origins[link]

The Gaels, during the beginning of the Christian era, believed themselves to be descendants of the Milesians - the sons of Míl Espáine. Much of this is covered in the Lebor Gabála Érenn, which catalogues the Milesian invasion of Ireland from the Iberian Peninsula. While this account is mostly mythical, it may be an embellished version of actual historical events. Recent genetic studies by Brian Sykes, Oxford University, suggest that these myths are based on historical facts since the people of northwestern Iberia, especially those from Galicia and Asturias are genetically closely related to the Gaels.

Emergence of Gaelic language[link]

The vowels of the Ogham alphabet.

It is not known with any certainty when the Goidelic (or Q-Celtic) language developed in prehistoric Ireland, or how the Gaels came to be the dominant culture.

Estimates of the arrival of proto-Gaelic in Ireland vary widely from the introduction of agriculture circa 7000-6000 BC to around the first few centuries BC. Little can be said with certainty, as the language now known as Old Irish, ancestral to modern Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx, first began to be properly recorded with the Christianisation of Ireland in the 4th Century, with the introduction of the Roman script. Old Irish does appear in a specialized written form, using a unique script known as Ogham. The oldest examples of Ogham have survived in the form of memorial inscriptions or short epitaphs on pillar-like stone monuments (see Mac Cairthinn mac Coelboth.) Ogham stones are found throughout Ireland as well as in other areas where Gaelic invaders settled across post-Roman Britain. This form of written Old Irish is thought to have been in use as early as 1000 BC. The script frequently encodes a name or description of the owner and surrounding region, and it is possible that the inscribed stones may have represented territorial claims.

Expansion[link]

Red: Historical maximum expansion of known Gaelic-speaking areas in the British Isles
Orange: Other areas where ogham inscriptions have been found
Green: Areas where Goidelic languages are commonly spoken in modern times

Starting some time around the 5th century Gaelic language and culture spread from Ireland to the southwest coast of modern Scotland, where it may have already existed since Roman times. Uncertainty over this comes as a result of the fact that there is disputed archaeological evidence to support the generally accepted tale of migration while there is some to suggest that there was none — the evidence also points to the population of the area (modern day Argyll) being constant during the time of the alleged invasion of Scotland^{[citation needed]}. This area was known as Dál Riata. The Gaels soon spread out to most of the rest of the country. Culturo-linguistic dominance in the area eventually led to the Latin name for Gaelic speaking peoples, "Scoti," being applied to the state founded by the Gaels: "Scotland." Since that time Gaelic language rose and, in the past three centuries, greatly diminished, in most of Ireland and Scotland. The most culturally and linguistically Gaelic regions are in the north west of Scotland, the west of Ireland and Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia where the descendants of the Highland Clearances were transplanted.

The Isle of Man (Manx: Ellan Vannin, 'Mannin's Isle', from the pre-Christian deity known as Manannán mac Lír) also came under massive Gaelic influence in its history. The last native speaker of Manx died in the 1970s, though use of the Manx language never fully ceased. There is now a resurgent language movement and Manx is once again taught in all schools as a second language and in some as a first language. A large part of the island's cultural heritage is Gaelic.

Today[link]

Gaeltacht areas in Ireland.

Distribution of Gaelic speakers in Scotland.

The two comparatively 'major' Gaelic nations in the modern era are Ireland (which in the 2002 census had 185,838 people who spoke Irish "daily" and 1,570,894 who were "able" to speak it).^[8] and Scotland (58,552 "Gaelic speakers" and 92,400 with "some Gaelic language ability"^[9] in the 2001 census) Communities where the language is still spoken natively are restricted largely to the west coast of each country and especially the Hebrides in Scotland. However, a large proportion of the Gaelic speaking population now lives in the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland, as well as Donegal, Galway, Cork and Dublin in Ireland. There are about 2,000 Canadian Gaelic speakers although they are generally of a very advanced age and concentrated in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island.^[10] According to the 2000 US CensusPDF (123 KiB), there are over 25,000 Irish-speakers in the United States with the majority found in urban areas with large Irish-American communities such as Boston, New York City and Chicago.

See also[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Aberdeen University Celtic Department Information and courses on all aspects of Celts, Gaels and related peoples, languages and cultures
• Iomairt Cholm Cille (The Columban Institute) An institute with the aim of promoting links between Irish and Scottish Gaelic speakers.
• DNA shows Scots and Irish should look to Spain for their ancestry

v t e Celts Ancient Celts Celtic studies Peoples Names · Gaels · Britons · Picts · Gauls · Iberian Celts Places Gaelic Ireland · Dálriata / Alba · Iron Age Britain / Roman Britain / Sub-Roman Britain · Iron Age Gaul / Roman Gaul · Gallaecia · Britonia · Balkans · Transylvania · Galatia Religion Polytheism · Christianity Mythology Irish · Scottish · Welsh · British · Breton · Cornish Society Calendar · Law · Warfare · Coinage Art Insular · Pictish · Brooches · Carnyx · High cross · Interlace · Knotwork · Mazes · Triple spiral · Wheels Modern Celts Celtic Revival Modern Celtic nations · Pan-Celticism (Celtic Congress · Celtic League) · Music (Rock) · Neopaganism (Reconstructionist · Neo-Druidism) Languages Proto-Celtic · Insular Celtic (Brythonic · Goidelic) · Continental Celtic (Celtiberian · Gaulish · Galatian · Gallaecian · Lepontic · Noric) Festivals Samhain/Calan Gaeaf · Imbolc/Gŵyl Fair · Beltane/Calan Mai · Lughnasadh/Calan Awst Lists Celts · Tribes · Deities · English words of Celtic origin · Spanish words of Celtic origin · Galician words of Celtic origin · French words of Gaulish origin

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2010)

Dan ar Braz at Lorient

Dan Ar Braz, born Daniel Le Bras (15 January 1949, Quimper, Brittany), is a French (Breton) guitarist and the founder of Héritage des Celtes.

Apprenticeship years[link]

At the age of 13 Daniel Le Bras owned his first guitar. He modelled himself on The Shadows, then Bob Dylan then Jimi Hendrix. Daniel's father insisted that he study catering instead of music. In 1967, while on a catering course in Benodet he met Alan Stivell who invited him to join his group.^[1] Alan Stivell and his musicians embraced Breton, Scottish, Irish music, and included Gabriel Yacoub who later formed Malicorne. After a successful tour in France in 1972 they travelled around Europe, North America and Australia. Alan's father had made a reconstruction of the ancient Breton harp in 1953 and Alan learned to play the harp, bagpipes and Irish flute. Daniel Le Bras changed his name to Dan Ar Bras to show that he belonged to Breton culture rather than French. The sound of his electric guitar made an exciting mix with Alan's celtic instruments and voice.

Ar Braz as a soloist[link]

In 1972 he formed his own group called Mor. Compared to Stivell's group, this was middle-of-the-road (MOR) and broke up shortly after recording one album. A solo album of Irish jigs and reels followed, but was not commercially successful. In 1976 he relocated to England and joined Fairport Convention. He changed his name again, this time to Dan Ar Braz. For about a year he played in concerts with Fairport but did not record any studio albums with them. The experience renewed his confidence. He returned to Brittany to record three solo albums in three years, each one using Celtic music. He sang in French and English. By this time he was making sales in the United States.

1980s[link]

For several years Dan Ar Braz seemed to turn his back on Celtic music. In 1981 he toured Europe with his "Acoustic" album, a subdued collection of instrumentals, written by himself. He then joined a blues-rock trio. Between 1984 and 1987 he toured the United States over a dozen times. By the time he recorded "Musiques pour les silences à venir" in 1985, he was being described as "New Age". After another instrumental album, he surprised everyone by recording a collection of songs in English - "Songs" (1990). Most were written by him plus one each by Richard Thompson and Donovan. He teamed up with John Kirkpatrick to record a film score in 1992.

L'Héritage des Celtes[link]

Dan Ar Braz's greatest moment occurred in 1992 when the organiser of the Festival de Cornouaille in Quimper asked him to create a live show uniting traditional music with modern styles. Dan had many contacts in Britain, France and America and delivered beyond all expectations. Donal Lunny came from Ireland, Karen Matheson from Scotland, Elaine Morgan from Wales and Bagad Kemper (bagpipers) and also Alan Stivell from Brittany. Altogether 75 musicians were involved. The group, called "L'Héritage des Celtes" performed at the Quimper festival in July 1993 then went on to Rennes in 1994. A hugely successful studio recording recreated the show. It sold 100,000 copies in over ten countries. A live album followed. Their fame within France was so great that in 1996 they represented France in the 41st Eurovision Song Contest.

Finisterres[link]

In 1997 they recorded "Finisterres" and again sold 100,000 copies. The music awards ceremony "Victoires de la Musique" awarded them "Best Traditional Music Album" in 1998. They went on tour in France and played at Le Zenith in Paris on St Patrick's Day to 3,000 fans. In August 2000 the group played at the "Festival Interceltique" in Lorient where Dan announced that it would be the final concert.

Return to solo work[link]

Much to the disappointment of many fans, Dan Ar Braz returned to solo work. "La mémoire des volets blancs" (2001) is a tribute to deceased friends from his childhood. It is an instrumental nostalgic piece. Clearly Dan has two very different sides - the personal and the public. He performed in another huge show at the Stade de France on St Patrick's Day 2002.

Discography[link]

With the band Mor (as a founding member guitarist)[link]

• - Stations (1974)

With Alan Stivell (as a guitarist)[link]

• - Renaissance of the Celtic Harp (1972)
• - Olympia Concert (1972)
• - From Celtic Roots (1973)
• - E Langonned (1974)
• - Live in Dublin (1975)
• - Treman Inis (1976)
• - Before Landing (1977)
• - Again (1993)

As Dan Ar Braz[link]

Solo albums[link]

• - Douar Nevez (1977)
• - Allez dire à la ville (1978)
• - The Earth's Lament (1979)
• - Acoustic (1981)
• - Music For the Silences To Come (1985)
• - Septembre Bleu (1988)
• - Songs (1990)
• - Frontiers de sel/Borders Of Salt (1991)
• - Rêve de Siam (OST) - (1992)
• - Xavier Grall chanté par Dan Ar Bras - (1992)
• - Theme For The Green Lands - (1994)
• - Kindred Spirit - (1995)
• - La Memoire Des Volets Blancs (2001)
• - Celtiques (2003)
• - A Toi Et Ceux (2004)
• - Frontières de sel (2006) DVD&CD
• - Les Perches du Nil (2007)
• - Comptines celtiques et d'ailleurs (2009)
• - Celebration (2012)

Various Artists[link]

• - Irish Reels, Jigs, Airs & Hornpipes (1979) (with Duck Baker, Dave Evans, Davey Graham)

Solo compilations[link]

• - Islands of memories - Les îles de la mémoire (1992)
• - Made in Breizh (2002)
• - Bretagnes : ici, ailleurs, là-bas (2011)

With L'Héritages des Celtes[link]

• - Héritage des Celtes -(1994)
• - L'Héritages des Celtes - Live (1997)
• - L'Héritages des Celtes - Finisterres (1997)
• - L'Essential en 3 CD (1998) (best-of)
• - Bretagnes à Bercy (1999) (various artists)
• - Zenith (2001)

References[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007)

A cylinder head sliced in Fifths shows two overhead camshafts—one above each of the two valves.

Overhead cam (OHC) valvetrain configurations place the engine camshaft within the cylinder heads, above the combustion chambers, and drive the valves or lifters in a more direct manner compared to overhead valves (OHV) and pushrods. Compared to OHV pushrod (or I-Head) systems with the same number of valves the reciprocating components of the OHC system are fewer and have a lower total mass. Though the system that drives the cams may become more complex, most engine manufacturers easily accept that added complexity in trade for better engine performance and greater design flexibility. Another performance advantage is gained as a result of the better optimized port configurations made possible with overhead camshaft designs. With no intrusive pushrods the overhead camshaft cylinder head design can use straighter ports of more advantageous crossection and length.

The OHC system can be driven using the same methods as an OHV system, which include using a rubber/kevlar toothed timing belt, chain, or in less common cases, gears. Early Ducati engines used shafts (with bevel gears) to drive the camshafts in their OHC engines.

In conjunction with multiple (3, 4 or 5) valves per cylinder, many OHC engines today employ variable valve timing to improve efficiency and power. OHC also inherently allows for greater engine speeds over comparable cam-in-block designs, as a result of having lower valvetrain mass.

There are two overhead camshaft layouts: single overhead camshaft (SOHC), and double (or dual or twin) overhead camshaft (DOHC).

Single overhead camshaft[link]

A single overhead camshaft cylinder head from a 1987 Honda CRX Si.

Single overhead camshaft (SOHC) is a design in which one camshaft is placed within the cylinder head. In an inline engine this means there is one camshaft in the head, while in a V engine or a horizontally-opposed engine (boxer; flat engine) there are two camshafts: one per cylinder bank.

The SOHC design has less reciprocating mass than a comparable pushrod design. This allows for higher engine speeds, which in turn will increase power output for a given torque. The cam operates the valves directly or through a rocker arm, as opposed to overhead valve pushrod engines which have tappets, long pushrods, and rocker arms to transfer the movement of the lobes on the camshaft in the engine block to the valves in the cylinder head. SOHC cylinder heads are generally less expensive to manufacture than DOHC cylinder heads. Timing belt replacement can be easier since there are fewer cam sprockets that need to be aligned during the replacement procedure.

A WW I-era Hispano-Suiza V8 aviation engine, which used single overhead camshafts for each cylinder bank.

In the early era of the liquid-cooled aircraft engine field, single overhead cam format engines were in existence during the First World War, for both the Allies and the Central Powers. The Hispano-Suiza 8 V8 engine, designed by Marc Birkigt in the Allied camp, and the series of Mercedes inline-6 aviation engines, culminating in the Mercedes D.III for the German Empire, both used rotary shaft-driven single overhead camshaft valve drive systems, and were among the most prominent aviation powerplants of the First World War era. The late-war Liberty L-12 V12 configuration American aviation engine also used the general Mercedes D-series single overhead camshaft design, based primarily on the later D.IIIa's drive system from rocker box to valvestem.

SOHC designs offer reduced complexity compared to pushrod designs when used for multi-valve heads in which each cylinder has more than two valves. An example of an SOHC design using shim and bucket valve adjustment was the engine installed in the Hillman Imp (4 cylinder, 8 valve); a small, early 1960s 2-door saloon car with a rear mounted alloy engine based on the Coventry Climax FWMA race engines. Exhaust and inlet manifolds were both on the same side of the engine block (thus not a crossflow cylinder head design). This did, however, offer excellent access to the spark plugs.

Dual overhead camshaft[link]

Overhead view of Suzuki GS550 head showing dual camshafts and drive sprockets.

A dual-overhead-camshaft (DOHC) valve-train layout is characterized by two camshafts located within the cylinder head, one operating the intake valves and one operating the exhaust valves. This design reduces valvetrain inertia more than a SOHC engine, since the rocker arms are reduced in size or eliminated. A DOHC design permits a wider angle between intake and exhaust valves than SOHC engines. This allows for a less restricted airflow at high engine speeds. Some engines have more than one bank of cylinder heads (i.e. V6, V8 where 2 cylinder banks meet to form a 'V') with two camshafts in total, but they remain SOHC, unless each side has two camshafts. The term "twin cam" is imprecise, but will normally refer to a DOHC engine. Some manufacturers use a SOHC in a Multi-valve design. Also, not all DOHC engines are Multi-valve engines. DOHC cylinder heads existed before Multi-valve heads appeared in the 1980's. Today, however, DOHC is sometimes confused with multi-valve heads, since almost all modern DOHC engines have between three and five valves per cylinder - but multivalve and DOHC are distinct features.^[1]

History[link]

DOHC straight-8 in a 1933 Bugatti Type 59 Grand Prix racer

Among the early pioneers of DOHC were Isotta Fraschini's Giustino Cattaneo, Austro-Daimler's Ferdinand Porsche Stephen Tomczak (in the Prinz Heinrich), and W. O. Bentley (in 1919); Sunbeam built small numbers of racing models between 1921 and 1923 and introduced one of the world's first production twin cams in 1924 - the Sunbeam 3 litre Super Sports, an example of which came second at LeMans in 1925.^[2] The first DOHC engines were either two- or four-valve per cylinder racing car designs from companies like Fiat (1912), Peugeot Grand Prix (1913, 4 valve), Alfa Romeo Grand Prix (1914, 4 valve)^[3] and 6C (1928), Maserati Tipo 26 (1926), Bugatti Type 51 (1931).

When DOHC technology was introduced in mainstream vehicles, it was common for it to be heavily advertised. While used at first in limited production and sports cars such as the 1925 Sunbeam 3 litre, Alfa Romeo is one of the twin cam's greatest proponents. 6C Sport, the first Alfa Romeo road car using a DOHC engine, was introduced in 1928. Ever since this, DOHC has been a trademark of most Alfa Romeo engines (some Alfa V6 engines are SOHC, not DOHC. Most Alfasud boxer engines were also SOHC).^[3]

Fiat was one of the first car companies to use belt-driven DOHC engines in some of their products in the mid-1960s.^{[citation needed]}, Jaguar's XK6 DOHC engine was displayed in the Jaguar XK120 at the London Motor Show in 1948 and used across the entire Jaguar range through the late 1940s, 1950 and 1960s. By the late 1970s, Toyota was the best seller of DOHC engines.^{[citation needed]}

More than two overhead camshafts are not known to have been tried in a production engine. However MotoCzysz has designed a motorcycle engine with a triple-overhead-camshaft configuration, with the intake ports descending through the head to two central intake ports between two outside exhaust camshafts actuating one of two exhaust valves per cylinder each.^[4]

Cutaway view of a Napier Lion showing the double overhead camshaft arrangement

In inline piston aero engines, DOHCs have been used for many engines. The 1917 Napier Lion, for example, had them.

See also[link]

• Valvetrain
• Overhead valve
• Cam-in-block
• Camless

References[link]

External links[link]

• OHV, SOHC, DOHC engine animated diagrams